The paper reports the Beckmann rearrangement of cyclohexanone oxime to
caprolactam in micellar media under dilute acidic conditions. The ano
malous hydrogen ion concentration experienced in the vicinity of the i
nterface can be gainfully exploited to carry out the reaction and chan
ge the product pattern. The phase behavior and reaction product distri
bution at various temperatures and surfactant and acid concentrations
are analyzed with a view to optimizing the system performance.